Dawn moves Supreme Court
ISLAMABAD- The Dawn Group of Newspapers has filed a petition in the Supreme Court of Pakistan, drawing attention of Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Irshad Hassan Khan to an important matter that indicates the worsening environment for the freedom of press environment in Pakistan.
The chief justice has directed the attorney general and the chief editor of Dawn or any other responsible representative from the Dawn to appear in the chamber of the chief justice at 1:00 pm on October 26.
In the petition, it has been stated that it is exceedingly difficult for governments to live with a free and independent press in Pakistan. It has been alleged that military administration has become increasingly hostile towards any criticism whatsoever in the press. The petitioner alleged that there have been several warnings over the last few days, both direct and indirect, that the authorities were preparing for something “significant”. The petitioner refers to the September 27 incident “when any army monitoring team, consisting of six armed personnel accompanied by three engineers of Karachi Electricity Supply Corporation (KESC) and an alleged representative of Electric Inspector, Government of Pakistan arrived at the headquarters of Dawn Group of Newspapers.” They insisted on immediate inspection of electricity installations in the premises and threatened disconnection of electric supply.
According to the petition, the unwarranted intrusion of armed personnel into the premises of newspaper office gave rise to a situation that a threatening posture had been adopted by the military authorities on the pretext of an unfruitful electricity inspection. The petitioner requested that “the incident needs to be looked into as it is likely to endanger the functioning of the free press.”
Source: Dawn
Date:10/7/2000
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